If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi all,

Here is the tea party report for Sunday, July 17th:

We've developed a pretty steady turnout over the last few weeks which has led to some very good discussions. After our traditional meal chant, robe verses, and short sit we turned to matters of practice, many surrounding the upcoming ango and jukai here at Treeleaf. One sangha member who was recently in an accident discussed his fear and uncertainty about sewing a rakusu, mostly due to only having the full use of one hand, but also due to some other factors. This person also mentioned sitting zazen both on and off pain medication which led into a discussion of a recent Brad Warner post about zazen and recreational drug use that has generated much talk in the blogosphere. Another member talked about being off any kind of medication for the first time in 18 years and how it felt very much the same since stopping. Recent posts at Zen Forum International were also a topic of interest involving who is "suitable" for ordination as well the new book club selection, Zen Seeds. The tea party then concluded with some folks conversing on techniques for finishing a kesa (the part made of cloth anyway) and starting a new one.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi.

Note: The Treeleaf Teaparty, and its components, this week will be dedicated to those that were in, or have any connection to, the Bombing and shooting in Norway.

A reminder of the Treeleaf teaparty ,sunday 21.00 (swedish time ) on skype.
Contains a short ceremony and some friendly talks.
If you want to join, unless you already have, pm Fugen or Shohei your skypename.

Everybody's welcome.
Same time, same place.
Thank you for your practice.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi all,

Here is the tea party report for Sunday, August 7th:

The vast majority of the discussion revolved around the upcoming Ango and the reluctance of some folks to commit to the 90 the days. The question was repeatedly pondered if Ango is truly about failing or succeeding, but the one agreement was that "pass/fail" doesn't ecapsulate the essence of what we are commiting to for the 3 months. The practice partner exercsies were also discussed and we were even able to find one person a partner during the call! Other topics discussed were merchandising, squeaky chairs, sewing, gardening, racoons, and swearing for pain relief!

And a reminder of the Treeleaf teaparty ,sunday 21.00 (swedish time ) on skype.
Contains a short ceremony and some friendly talks.
If you want to join, unless you already have, pm Fugen or Shohei your skypename.

Everybody's welcome.
Same time, same place.
Thank you for your practice.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi all,

Here is the (belated) tea party report for Sunday, August 21st:

We had a good number of folks on the call this past week, including one who recently returned after a hiatus to move the family to a new city and told of us of adventures exploring the new surroundings. After our traditional meal chant, robe verses, and short sit (which I missed!), the discussion turned to matters of practice. Specifically, we discussed where to place your gaze while in sitting zazen and foot placement and breaths during kinhin. One of our priests in training also discussed his encounter with a buddhist nun on a train and her order's efforts to build a new practice center in Europe. Other topics discussed were the differences in practice between Japan and the West, visiting local zen centers, Jundo's zendo in Tsukuba, sitting with other sangha members using Google+, vacationing in France, as well as the use of nuclear power at Fukushima and other parts of the world.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi all,

Here is the (belated...again!) tea party report for Sunday, August 28th:

The call this past week covered a lot of different topics with no real rhyme or reason to them. Perfect! So, after our traditional meal chat, robe verses, and short sit we discussed the following: The benefits of practice, Skype, Ango, hurricanes, Buddhist Geeks, charter schools, zen messages in non-buddhist books, trees in your lungs, british journalism, traveling to Denmark, buddha nature in our pets, being madly in love, buddhist temples in Ohio, and tips for using the forum.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi.

A reminder of the Treeleaf teaparty ,sunday 21.00 (swedish time ) on skype.
Contains a short ceremony and some friendly talks.
If you want to join, unless you already have, pm Fugen or Shohei your skypename.

Everybody's welcome.
Same time, same place.
Thank you for your practice.

The Treeleaf Teaparty on sunday will be in comemoration of the beings touched by and the events of 9/11.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Oh and an extra reminder
During Ango there will be a slight edit to the format to allow some time for Ango discussion and practice partner exercises.

Welcome
A short welcome and getting everything going

Introduction of new people
If there is a new person to the Treeleaf Tea Party, he/she gets to introduce themself, as well as get an introduction to everybody else that is present.

Meal Chant
As this is a tea party, there's a short meal chant

This food comes from the efforts
of all sentient beings past and present,
and is medicine for nourishment of our Practice.
We offer this meal of many virtues and tastes
to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha,
and to all life in every realm of existence.
May all sentient beings in the universe
be sufficiently nourished.

Robe Verse (Takkesage)
To be chanted by those placing on a Rakusu or Kesa.
Remove from case and place garment folded on top of head, then Gassho and chant 3X before wearing.

Robe of liberation boundless
Field beyond both form and formless
Wearing the Tathagatha's teachings
Vowing to save all sentient beings

Zazen
A short sitting of zazen

Practicetalk
Each person gets to talk about their practice, and issues they want to take up regarding practice

Ango/PPE talk
Each person gets to talk about their current participation in the Ango period and any practice partner exercises.

Main talk
Each person gets to talk about any things they want to take up.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi all,

Here is the tea party report for Sunday, September 4th:

As we are now in the midst of our sangha's Ango, a new feature was added to talk about our particular experiences of Ango and the practice partner exercises which just commenced. After our traditional meal chant, robe verses, and short sit of zazen a number of topics were discussed. Along the lines of practice, one participant mentioned some issues with his rakusu and how it was temporarily acquired by a child who left a stain on it and another instance where an attempt to keep it clean meant it getting left behind. Another person mentioned that the greatest benefit to his practice has been the realization that, no matter how difficult a particular experience may be, it is possible recognize in the moment that such a feeling will undoubtedly pass. One person's work as a resource teacher was also discussed and the effort needed to work with children who have autism spectrum disorders or ADHD (but also that working with the other teachers and parents can be equally difficult). Other topics discussed included parenting our kids, learning to say no, speaking up more often, how many of the posts on the forum each of us read, speaking and listening in French, and meeting up with a moose.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi all,

Here is the tea party report for Sunday, September 11th:

We had a very strong turnout for this week's call as we get fully in the swing of Ango and Jukai this coming week! After our traditional meal chant and robe verses we had a short sit of zazen in honor of all those affected by war and terrorism in the wake of the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. Following the sit as we turned to matters of practice, one person told the story of how he ordered a part to fix the casing to his iphone only to have it break again within a few minutes! Another participant described his week working with kids who have learning differences and the difficulties that can bring while someone else discussed how he found himself trying to wash dishes quickly so he could get to some zazen, only to see how much irony there was in trying to become mindful by not being mindful! One of our regulars over the years also returned this week just as he prepares to go back to work after being injured a few months ago...and wonders if he'll remember how to do his job (we all assured him he would!). Other topics included Stephen Colbert's ultimate spoiler (spoiler alert: we all die!), getting up to get the kids to school, gaming, sewing, and shiny new toys.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

I am wondering, is there a possibly or even an interest in having multiple Tea Party times? For me, Sunday is a major family day where we try to limit technology/media and outside activities, so I don't join in. Not to mention of course the many different time zones of our sangha.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

I wanted to add to matt,s comment. Due to family commitments I couldn,t make the tea party this evening due to the time it is on at. I was also wondering about the possibility of the multiple tea party idea, maybe staggering another one a couple of hours later?

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Originally Posted by Ray

I wanted to add to matt,s comment. Due to family commitments I couldn,t make the tea party this evening due to the time it is on at. I was also wondering about the possibility of the multiple tea party idea, maybe staggering another one a couple of hours later?

Hi Ray,

We are talking about it here and seeing if something can be worked out.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Originally Posted by Jundo

Originally Posted by Ray

I wanted to add to matt,s comment. Due to family commitments I couldn,t make the tea party this evening due to the time it is on at. I was also wondering about the possibility of the multiple tea party idea, maybe staggering another one a couple of hours later?

Hi Ray,

We are talking about it here and seeing if something can be worked out.

Good suggestion guys.

Gassho, J

Thanks, Jundo. I don't want to make things more confusing for people. Just curious if (and how many) others were not joining in simply because the day or time were not good for them.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi all,

Here is the Tea Party report for Sunday, October 16th:

Quiet time
Hanging out with friends
Playing music
Talking with teachers
Forum craziness and acceptance
Going to the park & raccoons
Parenting
Buying the farm
Practice
Alexander Technique
Breathing in, breathing out

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi.

Here's the secretary report for this weeks Treeleaf Teaparty:

Different Teapartytimes
Kids
No electricity on saturdays
Growing your own vegetables
Letting parents help
Angocomittments
Kids and memories
Painting in the house
Halloween
Dharma talks & Mics
Taking care of the family

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hiyas
Yeah, like Shawn just said its fine to be early/late as its not that rigid... just at the time things are set we go through a quick routine and so on.

If time is a major issue holding other folks back from participating well yeah for our unique "time-shifting" capabilities here at Treeleaf - We have discussed offering an offset time that may be more suitable for folks in the Americas here... perhaps do another one, later on in the evening one Sunday or even Saturday. Really would just need Feed back on what is suitable for most that would like to join in.

Perhaps an informal poll to see which day and time for a secondary Tea Party?

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Originally Posted by Shohei

Yeah, like Shawn just said its fine to be early/late as its not that rigid... just at the time things are set we go through a quick routine and so on.

Hi all,

In case people don't know, we do have a short ceremony and sit at the beginning of each tea party, but even so it is fine to stop in for any amount of time, even 5 minutes, just to say hello. I know folks have commitments, most often family, but I have found that my time with my family is very much enhanced by my participtaion in the tea party and my wife is now the one who reminds me of the time. She has noticed a big difference in how I interact with her and my kids on the weekend and apparently it's quite noticable when I don't attend.

And to those who are asking for a time change I would simply suggest that you stop by for 5 minutes and see what goes on. I have always thought that a monthly alternate tea party time was an excellent idea and hope folks will post in this thread about times they would find doable, but if you can find just a few moments to tell us "in person" too that would be awesome.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hiyas
A reminder of the Treeleaf teaparty ,sunday 21.00 (swedish time) on skype.
There is a short ceremony and some friendly talks.
If you want to join, unless you already have, pm Fugen or Shohei your skypename.

Everybody's welcome.
Same time, same place.
Thank you for your practice.

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi guys,

Thanks so very much for the party!

It was great to be a part of the tea party this evening. Excellent way to connect and finally be able to speak to the peole that I was only reading about! APologies for my over excitement thru hogging the mic with this being my first time on Skype and in the tea party!

Re: Sharing Helpful and Insightful Tips (was The Tea Party)

Hi.

Here's the secretarys report for the Treeleaf Teaparty 5/2

Birthdays
Cigars
Zazenkais
sitting outside
Sewing
Greeting new people
Hats
Skiing/ snowboarding
Bookclub
Frisky weather
Games on the DS and pc for kids
Kids
Heating systems
Going to bed at the same time as the kids
Treeleaf beginners mind teaparty
Not picking fights for the dharma
Having to Learn chinese soon?